World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

[jmh]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

I think I'd use Edu and Bradley in the central midfield, and bring on Torres in the second half if we are trailing. I don't think he'd hold up against some of England's more bruising midfielders over the course of 90 minutes. Edu is a stronger defender.

He's a good change of pace, like Robbie Findley apparently is (who knew?!)

My midfield and strikers versus England:

----------------------Altidore----------------------
----------------------Dempsey--------------------
Holden--------Edu-------------Bradley------Donovan

Then, depending on the situation, either Gomez or Findley can come in and provide an offensive spark, taking out Holden and sliding Dempsey back to a wing; or Torres can enter for Edu.

Except perhaps Torres for Holden, that's pretty much what I was thinking too.

By the way: Clarence Goodson is white? I didn't know white people could be named "Clarence".

 

[BoomGoestheDynamite]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Except perhaps Torres for Holden, that's pretty much what I was thinking too.

By the way: Clarence Goodson is white? I didn't know white people could be named "Clarence".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Darrow

His family was keeping it old school.

 

[Priceless]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

By the way: Clarence Goodson is white? I didn't know white people could be named "Clarence".

 

[3W]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Except perhaps Torres for Holden, that's pretty much what I was thinking too.

By the way: Clarence Goodson is white? I didn't know white people could be named "Clarence".

Perhaps a candidate for the Reggie Cleveland All-Star XI?

 

[Craig P.]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Darrow

His family was keeping it old school.

Or maybe they're fans of Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker comedies. (Clarence Oveur from Airplane!)

 

[MountieBoyOz]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Or maybe they're fans of Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker comedies. (Clarence Oveur from Airplane!)

Or they liked It's A Wonderful Life.

"Look Mommy! Every time a bell rings, John Terry shags another teammates girlfriend!"

 

[WeWantMore]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Mexico announced their squad today:

Goalkeepers: Guillermo Ochoa (America), Luis Michel (Guadalajara), Oscar Perez (Jaguares).

Defenders: Roja Marquez (Barcelona), Ricardo Osorio (Stuttgart), Francisco Javier Rodriguez (PSV Eindhoven), Carlos Salcido (PSV Eindhoven), Hector Moreno (AZ Alkmaar), Paul Aguilar (Pachuca), Efrain Juarez (Pumas), Jonny Magallon (Chivas), Jorge Torres Nilo (Tigres).

Midfielders: Andres Guardado (Deportivo La Coruna), Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul), Israel Castro (Pumas).

Forwards: Guillermo Franco (West Ham), Carlos Vela (Arsenal), Giovani Dos Santos (Galatasaray), Pablo Barrera (Pumas), Adolfo Bautista (Chivas), Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Veracruz), Alberto Medina (Chivas), Javier Hernandez (Chivas).

No Jonathan Dos Santos, which apparently made Papa Dos Santos rather upset, saying he will never play for Mexico again.

 

[jmh]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Mexico announced their squad today:


No Jonathan Dos Santos, which apparently made Papa Dos Santos rather upset, saying he will never play for Mexico again.

By "he" you mean Jonathan will never play for Mexico again?

 

[WeWantMore]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

By "he" you mean Jonathan will never play for Mexico again?

Yeah, that's what his father claimed at least. I guess my antecedent was kind of unclear.

 

[jmh]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Yeah, that's what his father claimed at least. I guess my antecedent was kind of unclear.

A bit. I wasn't sure whether you maybe meant that Gio wasn't going to play for Mexico. That would be nice.

 

[BoomGoestheDynamite]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

By "he" you mean Jonathan will never play for Mexico again?

I hope he isn't waiting for Brazil to call

 

[bigmrg74]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Didn't see that either of these were mentioned back when they happened, but FIFA tossed Indonesia's bid for the 2022 World Cup because their government didn't support the bid. Not that Indonesia really had a snowball's chance in hell at actually being awarded World Cup, of course.

Also, Japan scaled back their bid to focus on 2022 only at the beginning of May amidst growing conventional wisdom that the 2018 bid is going to Europe. Which has been my operating assumption ever since Blatter basically said he was just kidding about the rotation system - the 2014 tournament in Brazil is already going to be the first time in history that it's been outside of Europe in consecutive tournaments. And then, since the World Cup hasn't been on the same continent twice in a row in 60 years, that makes the 2022 bid for "not Europe."

So, realistically, although there are six bids that are for both 2018 and 2022, the reality is that there are basically two different pools of bids.

2018
Belgium/Netherlands
England
Russia
Portugal/Spain

2022
Australia
Japan
Qatar
South Korea
United States

Put that way, it looks like the biggest obstacle to a US World Cup in 2022 is Australia. Qatar's a longshot, and does anyone really think FIFA would go back to Japan or South Korea before they go back to the US, given how much of a cash cow the '94 Cup was for them?

Stadium info

Sorry for going back here a ways, but just which stadiums are on the US list right now?? Kinda want to do a side by side, to see how the Aussies stack up to the US venues.

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Sorry for going back here a ways, but just which stadiums are on the US list right now?? Kinda want to do a side by side, to see how the Aussies stack up to the US venues.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_2018_and_2022_FIFA_World_Cup_bid

 

[Jimjamesak]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_2018_and_2022_FIFA_World_Cup_bid

I was looking at different stadium proposals for the bids and noticed the England one has Hillsborough. *shudders*

I'm sorry but I don't think I could ever set foot in that stadium and enjoy a match. But I guess that's just me.

 

[WeWantMore]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

http://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/dos_santos_could_quit_mexico_squad_1_381701

Now Giovanni is thinking about quitting too. This is hilarious.

 

[jmh]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

http://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/dos_santos_could_quit_mexico_squad_1_381701

Now Giovanni is thinking about quitting too. This is hilarious.

Wow, I mean... I want to laugh at Mexico for potentially being deprived of two talented players, but on the other hand, I want to laugh at the Dos Santos family for being so unbelievably petty. I mean, come on, you're 20 years old, you've got three senior appearances for your club and five caps in friendlies. Do you really have any right to be this upset?

 

[ColbyWMHB]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

I was looking at different stadium proposals for the bids and noticed the England one has Hillsborough. *shudders*

I'm sorry but I don't think I could ever set foot in that stadium and enjoy a match. But I guess that's just me.

May I ask why not? I am assuming you weren't there and that you don't have friends, relatives, or knew people who were, or the answer would be obvious.

But if my assumption is correct, I must admit I'm curious as to why would you personally not be able to attend a match at a stadium where something terrible happened 2 decades ago when you were like 5 years old?

Not looking for an argument, just curious, especially as someone who has attended several matches at Ibrox, a place where similar events have happened. However, they happened when I was very, very young (like you with Hillsborough), so I am wondering how come the tragedy has that much of an affect on you that you wouldn't be able to set foot inside the stadium, especially considering that Hillsborough (like Ibrox) is vastly improved and much safer than it was at the time of those terrible events.

 

[WeWantMore]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Wow, I mean... I want to laugh at Mexico for potentially being deprived of two talented players, but on the other hand, I want to laugh at the Dos Santos family for being so unbelievably petty. I mean, come on, you're 20 years old, you've got three senior appearances for your club and five caps in friendlies. Do you really have any right to be this upset?

The only thing I can really think of, and I don't think it's very likely, is that Aguirre made some sort of promise to them that he would include both of them. That might justify some of this anger. But still, I think it's silly, and incredibly selfish.

 

[Kepler]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_2018_and_2022_FIFA_World_Cup_bid

Surprised Solider Field in Chicago isn't on the list, but then I saw the capacity is small (61k). Still it doesn't seem right to have a list of 10-12 stadiums and not include arguably one of the 3 or 4 most historically and architecturally significant.

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: World Soccer XII: South Africa Awaits

Surprised Solider Field in Chicago isn't on the list, but then I saw the capacity is small (61k). Still it doesn't seem right to have a list of 10-12 stadiums and not include arguably one of the 3 or 4 most historically and architecturally significant.

Its not there because Chicago backed out of dealing with World Cup bidding after not getting the olympics dont you remember that? In the end, if the world cup returns, I would guess that Soldier Field will still make the cut.